


Protect and Defend

by Jassanja



Category: The Mummy Series
Genre: Cultural Differences, M/M, Pre-Slash, Yuletide 2011
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-21
Updated: 2011-12-21
Packaged: 2017-10-27 17:29:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/298273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jassanja/pseuds/Jassanja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Jonathan gets himself in some mortal trouble, he turns to an old friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Protect and Defend

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Crazy_Dumpling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazy_Dumpling/gifts).



Jonathan Carnahan had traveled the desert for almost a week, in search of the Med Jai, or more accurately, their leader Ardeth Bay, before coming across nomads who knew how to contact them.

Now Jonathan was impatiently waiting for his friend to arrive. At least he hoped they were still friends.

At long last the tent flapped open and the dark clad warrior entered. When he nodded in greeting, rocks fell off Jonathan’s chest. Everything would work itself out, he was safe now.

“Ardeth, it’s so good to see you,” he blurted out in greeting, and it took him all he had not to fall into the man’s arms.

“Jonathan, my friend, it is good to see you,” Ardeth answered. “I must say, I wasn’t expecting to see you. There were no signs announcing the end of the world preceding your arrival.”

“Very funny!” Jonathan made a face, showing that he didn’t think it funny at all. “There may be no mummies on the loose right now, but I do need help. I’ve run into a bit of trouble.”

“I’m listening,” Ardeth said. He sat down and watched as Jonathan kept walking in circles.

“My sister and her family came to Egypt to dig around some ruin or another, and I thought, hey, why not go along, spend some time in some old favourite digs of my own, back in Cairo. All went well for the first week, but then, from one day to the other, a couple of chaps decided that they would rather see me dead than having a good time with them.”

“What did you do to enrage them?”

Jonathan waved the question away with his hand. “Nothing too outrageous!”

Ardeth suppressed some laughter. He could think of more than a few things that could have gotten Jonathan into trouble this time.  “So how am I to help you?” he asked, still amused.

“I thought I could spend some time with you and your folk, until we travel back to London.”

“You want me to hide you, you mean.”

Jonathan made a face, but then nodded.  “Yes.”

“I would gladly agree to do this,” Ardeth began, but Jonathan could already hear the big but coming. “But my people aren’t very welcoming to strangers.  We kept to ourselves for thousands of years, and the secrecy runs deep in our blood.”

“Why?” Jonathan wondered. “There is nothing to protect for you and your people anymore, or is there?”

“The creature and the curse are lifted from Hamunaptra, but over all the years the Medjai have collected more ancient secrets to protect and artifacts to hide. Our duty isn’t done, and until then the old ways will prevail.”

Jonathan scratched his stubbly chin. “And there’s nothing that can be done to let a stranger enter your camp?”

“It has happened before…” Ardeth began, without ending the sentence.

“Tell me; tell me what I have to do to be allowed to come with you. I really need your protection. Those men are serious about finding me. And I really don’t want to find out what they plan to do once they’ve got me.”

“The only strangers to ever join us are the women some of our men bring home after they travel outside the tribes.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Jonathan said. “You could tell them that I want to find a wife, that’s why I came with you.”

Ardeth shook his head. “You don’t understand my friend. It won’t be that easy.  For a woman to take you as a husband, her tribe chief as well as her parents would have to agree to the marriage.”

“Well, you are a tribe leader. And as for the parents, I have money. I can get a couple of camels or sheep or goats. Whatever is required.”

Ardeth smiled. “I like the way you think, but it will not work that way. While we need those animals to survive, they are no currency when it comes to buying a bride, not with the Medjai.  As I told you, we are warriors, protectors and keepers. A man’s worth are the secrets he protects, the battles he fought.  Without that no man will consider you a good husband for their daughter. “

“I fought Imhotep twice.” Jonathan insisted.

“And you did so bravely, but it will not be enough for my people to consider you a valuable enough man to join us. You didn’t fight the creature because it was your duty, but because you’ve woken it.”

“So I survived mummies and plagues and the pigmies, just to fall victim of some scrupulous gamblers? Yes, that sounds just like my luck!” Jonathan finally fell down on a pillow, exhausted and hopeless.

Ardeth’s chest constricted with emotion, as he saw Jonathan looking so resigned. He knew he was riding into dangerous territory, but he was who he was, a warrior and a protector, so he met this battle as he would one against the forces of evil. “There may be another way,” he said and put a hand on Jonathan’s shoulder.

Jonathan looked up, and Ardeth could just see the glimmer of hope in his eyes, even as Jonathan fought it down to protect himself from more disappointment.

“The Medjai honour the old ways, so they see everyone who leaves the dessert as someone a bit strange, even if they only leave for a short while on a mission.  And as a tribe leader I had to leave my people a few times over the years.”

“Like when you came to London to warn us?” Jonathan asked. He was confused as to where this was going, and how it would help him.

“Yes, just like then,” Ardeth agreed. “This is also a reason why some of us take a wife from the outside. We are not deemed suitable husbands within our culture either.”

“That’s horrible” Jonathan said, for a moment forgetting his own plight. “You’re only doing what you have to do to protect and keep those secrets. So you should be the best choice of all as a son-in-law.”

Ardeth looked at Jonathan with a small smile. “I knew this would happen when I agreed to lead my tribe and later my people. And so did the other leaders who choose me. They are wise men, who would never put the stigma on a man who did not want to spend time outside the tribe. Or they do as they did in my case; choose a man who is unlikely to ever take a wife anyway.”

Jonathan looked at Ardeth for a long moment, then his eyes widened as understanding dawned. “Oh!”

“Is this going to change things between us?”

“Oh no, of course not,” Jonathan hurried to say, swatting the idea away like an annoying fly. “You could lay with camels for all I care, if it helps to save my life.” He paused and looked at Ardeth questioningly. “You do mean to use your inclination to safe me, right? To take me to your people as your bride of sorts?”

“That is what I can offer to protect you.”

Jonathan studied Ardeth’s face for a long moment. This wasn’t what he had hoped for, but he’d done worse to safe his hide. He could do this.

“I will have to practice my swooning then,” he said light-heartedly as he got up and stumbled two steps towards Ardeth to fall into his arms.

The Medjai caught him with a laugh. “This won’t be necessary, I think.”

Still, Jonathan didn’t get back on his feet immediately, but let himself be held for a moment longer. The feeling of those strong arms around him didn’t feel half bad, and as his gaze found Ardeth’s dark glimmering eyes, he started to wonder if he could not only do this, but if he could come to enjoy it.


End file.
